TURIN, Italy -- Finally, what Canada has been waiting for:
hockey.
No more talk about Wayne Gretzky's link to an alleged gambling
ring -- OK, at least until he pokes his head into one of the two
rinks at the Turin Olympics.
Or discussion about possible distractions for the players, who
make up what may be the best Canadian Olympic team ever. They say
what's going on with Gretzky has nothing to do with them winning
another gold.
"The players are pretty much insulated here," Gretzky said
after arriving Tuesday. "Distractions don't matter to them.
They're here to play the game ... and they're ready to play."
The games start Wednesday with Canada playing Italy in what
could be a 10-goal game or more. The United States, silver
medalists in Salt Lake City in 2002 while Canada won its first gold
in 50 years, takes on Latvia in the first of its five round-robin
games in pool play.
The Olympics stir a Super Bowl-like reaction in Canada, only
everybody roots for the same team. TV ratings for Canada's
gold-medal win in 2002 were among the highest ever in the country.
And this team, put together mostly by executive director Gretzky,
is seen as the gold medal favorite.
But who could have seen this coming? A New Jersey-based gambling
investigation alleges Rick Tocchet, Gretzky's top assistant coach
with the Phoenix Coyotes, financed an illegal betting ring that
purportedly drew $1.7 million in bets in the weeks leading to the
Super Bowl.
Gretzky has not been questioned, but his wife, actress Janet
Jones, is alleged to have placed bets with the group. And the
timing couldn't have been worse -- leading one Canadian newspaper to
question if the probe was intentionally timed to hurt Canada's
chances and improve the United States' in the Olympics.
The NHL only wishes Americans paid such close attention to
hockey.
Canada's players are acting as if Gretzky's troubles aren't
their own, since he won't be taking any shifts or leading any
odd-man rushes -- even though, at age 45, the NHL's all-time leading
scorer probably could.
"We're excited he's coming and that he'll be a part of that,"
team captain Joe Sakic said. "I know people are trying to bring
up, `What's going on with Wayne?' ... It's not an issue."
But Gretzky knows it will be if Canada doesn't repeat.
"I'll get blamed," he said. "But I've been blamed for losses
before. It's not going to change my life."
It will be difficult to tell if Canada is distracted against
Italy, an NHL player-less team appearing only because it is the
host country. If betting was allowed, Italy might be an eight-goal
underdog against a team that practiced Tuesday with Sakic on its
third line.
Miracle on ice? This one might be better called the mismatch on
gelato.
The Americans were mostly late arrivals in Turin, with most
players scheduled to get in late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning
after many missed scheduled flights due to last weekend's East
Coast snowstorm.
"It's not the ideal way you'd like to prepare for a game, but
it's that switch -- that competitive juice -- that just turns on and
you're ready to go," said John Grahame, who is expected to open in
goal for the Americans.
The United States, despite relatively low expectations that
caused coach Peter Laviolette to joke last week there was no reason
to make the long trip, also figures to have a relatively easy game
Thursday against Kazakhstan.
The best matchup of Wednesday's six games looks to be Russia
against Slovakia, which has star-quality NHL forwards in Marian
Hossa, Pavol Demitra, Miroslav Satan and Marek Svatos. Russia
general manager Pavel Bure, who retired as a player last fall, has
repeatedly denied his talented team won't be focused or in sync -- a
common problem for Russian teams of recent vintage.
Russia has plenty of scorers in Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander
Ovechkin and Alex Kovalev, and the Olympics mark the first major
showcase for forward Evgeni Malkin, who will open on a line with
Ovechkin. Malkin, the No. 2 pick in the 2004 NHL draft by
Pittsburgh, played in the world junior championships for silver
medalist Russia only last month.
Besides the Russia-Slovakia game, the other round-robin games
Wednesday in the United States' pool matches Kazakhstan against
Sweden, which will be without star forward Peter Forsberg for at
least two games. He missed the Philadelphia Flyers' final eight
games before the break with a groin problem.
Another Flyers forward, Michal Handzus, also may be out for
Slovakia because of a right shoulder injury that occurred last
weekend. Despite Handzus' injury, Slovakia forward Peter Bondra
said, "I'm looking for a big surprise" against Russia.
The Czech Republic, the 1998 gold medalist during the first
Olympics tournament conducted mostly with NHL players, opens
against Germany. The Czechs, led by Jaromir Jagr, are seen as
Canada's biggest threat in the tournament.
Finland plays Switzerland in the other opener Wednesday.
Four of the six teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals
after each team plays five round-robin games in eight days.
Canada coach Pat Quinn already has the tournament planned out,
saying the Canadians will play eight games in 12 days -- not might,
but will.
To do that, they must play for the gold.